PORTLAND — “We have to play a 32-minute game to win” is one of the oldest cliches in the toolbox of a high school basketball coach, although usually it’s just that ”“ a banality, something that sounds good, but isn’t necessarily always true.
But against a team like Bonny Eagle, and a player like Dustin Cole, it is ”“ let up for even a few minutes and, as Sanford found out Monday, it’s likely curtains.
After staying with the high-powered Scots for a quarter and a half, the Spartans let their guard down for just a few minutes and were made to pay as Cole went on a personal 13-0 run in a three-minute span to give Bonny Eagle a 33-18 a lead, an advantage that would never get below double digits the rest of the way as the third-seeded Scots battled past the No. 6 Spartans 66-49 in a Western Class A boys basketball quarterfinal at the Portland Expo.
The Scots (18-1) move on to play second-seed Falmouth, which beat No. 7 Cheverus 56-48 in Monday’s other quarterfinal, in the semifinals at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Cumberland County Civic Center. Sanford’s best season in over a decade came to a close at 13-7.
Cole, a senior point guard, led the Scots’ effort on both ends of the floor, scoring 33 points and making five steals as the spearhead of an aggressive Bonny defense that never allowed the Spartans to get in any sort of a flow.
“I thought our boys played hard,” Sanford coach Paul Nolette said. “But Cole’s the real deal. He took advantage of the matchup and carried that team.”
Sanford had led 11-9 at the end of a first quarter behind six points from John Morgan as Bonny Eagle shot just 2 of 19 from the floor. The Spartans were 5 of 9, but turned the ball over nine times in the first eight minutes and couldn’t build on their lead.
“The idea was jump on them and make them play behind a little bit to put some pressure on them, and we really had our chance,” Sanford coach Paul Nolette said. “We talked about making sure that offensively we were efficient, and I thought in that first quarter even though the game was close we missed a lot of looks down low. We missed two or three lay ups; the post was open and we couldn’t get it there.”
The Scots warmed up in the second, hitting their first four shots of the quarter, but Sanford stuck around to trail just 20-18 before two big calls in the course of a minute altered the game.
The first came when Cole, driving the lane, wasn’t called for a charge that would have been his third foul. The next came seconds later, when Morgan was called for his third on a charge taken by the Scots’ Nick Dubay at halfcourt.
“There were a couple of calls that could have gone either way that really could have changed the momentum of the game,” Nolette said. “It’s not easy to officiate, but their job is to facilitate the game ”“ what’s an advantage, what’s a disadvantage, what’s a foul. And all players should be on the same level.”
“Dubay took a quick charge and he really sparked us,” Bonny Eagle coach Phil Bourassa said. “That’s what we count on him for.”
Morgan’s leaving coincided with Cole heating up, as he hit three 3’s to send the Scots to a 35-20 halftime lead.
““We expected a slow start, but once we came out of it we played well,” Cole said. “Once we started getting shots, running the floor and getting rebounds, we got it going.”
Sanford was able to get within 10 with 4:51 remaining in the third when Evyn Nolette hit two straight 3’s, but that was the closest the Spartans would get the rest of the way as the Scots’ pressure defense and offensive rebounding ”“ both led by high-energy senior forward Jon Woods ”“ kept them far out in front the rest of the way.
“It was a different style of game for sure,” Bourassa said. “We did a really good battling, some of the shots we normally make didn’t go in and they did a lot of different things differently, especially on the offensive glass, and that pushed us into the lead.”
Cole led Bonny Eagle with 33, including four 3-pointers and nine free throws, while Woods chipped in 11 and Dubay 10 for the Scots.
Morgan led the way for Sanford with 13, while Nolette scored 12, Josh Schroder 10 and Jordan Tranchemontagne eight.
All four of those players are seniors for the Spartans, and were a major part of turning a program that had been in the doldrums of the SMAA for most of this century, including a 4-13 record when they were freshman, into a playoff team each of the past three years.
“It’s never fun losing your last game, and it hurts,” Nolette said. “These seniors kind of set out to turn the program around and establish a new identity, and they did that. Going 12-3 over our last 15 games, that was pretty impressive for a team a lot of people didn’t think was going to be all that competitive.”
— Staff Writer Cameron Dunbar can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or cdunbar@journaltribune.com.
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